Saturday, February 10, 2007

If I didn't have George to pick on, who would be left? He's such an easy target because he is always leading off on the wrong foot. What's bad is that he gets away with many of his missteps. I suppose if you were surrounded by legions of “yes” men, you wouldn't acknowledge any of your mistakes either.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush asked Congress to help solve "one of the great challenges facing our generation" by approving proposals he says will cut U.S. gasoline consumption by up to 20 percent over 10 years.

"Every member of Congress who cares about strengthening our economy, protecting our national security and confronting climate change should support the energy initiatives I have set out," the president said Saturday in his weekly radio address. "We can leave behind a cleaner and better world for our children and grandchildren."

Bush's energy proposals, made in his State of the Union address last month, include ramping up the production of alternative fuels such as ethanol made from new, non-corn feedstocks. The president wants to require the use of 35 billion gallons a year of ethanol and other alternative fuels, such as soybean-based biodiesel, by 2017, a fivefold increase over current requirements. The ethanol would be in gasoline blends of 10 percent to 85 percent.

The call for sharp increases in ethanol use will get bipartisan support in Congress. But production of ethanol from corn is expected to fall far short of meeting such an increase. So Bush envisions a major speedup of research into production of "cellulosic" ethanol made from wood chips, switchgrass and other feedstocks.

------BUT------

After promising support for renewable energy our illustrious leader has proposed a cut in funding for the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL). After promising a 20% reduction in fuel use through renewable sources, Bush promptly proposed a raise in funding for fossil fuels and nuclear development, while at the same time proposing a 3% budget cut for NREL. You may remember last year Bush visited the NREL labs in Golden Co. His visit was marred by the fact that many workers at the lab had been laid off just prior to his arrival.

It seems that this administration is up to its old tricks again. Say one thing, do another. How can Bush hope to meet renewable energy goals without renewable energy research?

Friday, February 02, 2007

The NIE report (national intelligence estimate) says that no matter what we do right now in Iraq, it won't work. There is too much divisiveness in the country for the various groups to ever unite. It appears that the future will have to deal with partitioning the country. We are dying while trying to save the unity of the country and they don't want it. Their concerns date back over a thousand years and are embedded in their society. Our democracy won't work over there.

The latest report and forecast for the earth says that no matter what we do right now to stop additional greenhouse gas pollution, the earth will continue to get hotter and the weather will get wilder because the effects of the pollution to date will take a century to be fully realized. And we're not curbing the pollution – we're just trying to slow down the increase.

Where can I get a large handbasket? We're going to need one where we're going.